Nickel ore can be divided into copper sulfide nickel ore and nickel oxide ore. Flotation is the main beneficiation method when processing copper sulfide nickel ore, and magnetic separating and gravity separating are the commonly auxiliary methods.
The mixing flotation process is to separate nickel ore in which copper has lower content than nickel. The mixed concentrate of copper and nickel will smelt into high grade nickel directly.
Copper nickel can be get from raw ore, then the copper concentrate with low grade nickel and the nickel concentrate with low grade copper can be separate from the mixing concentrate, and the nickel concentrate will be sent into the next stop-smelting, nickel matte can be get then separated.
When floatability differences happens to the various nickel element of the raw ore, then nickel ore can be recoveried further from tailings after the copper and nickel been mixing flotation.
When process copper-sulfide nickel ore, collector and frother will be used in order to better results. A basic principle of copper-sulfide nickel ore process is that it is better to let copper assimilate into nickel ore rather than the opposite. For it is easier to recovery cooper from nickel concentrate. The process has a vital advantage-receive copper concentrate with low grade nickel directly.
A copper-nickel mine in Jilin is a large-scale metal symbiotic copper-nickel sulfide mine. Xinhai has designed a suitable process for beneficiation, that is, three-stage one closed-circuit crushing, stage grinding, copper-nickel mixing-separation flotation, three-stage dehydration of nickel concentrate, and two-stage dehydration of copper concentrate. The nickel ore production line has the advantages of simple process, long flotation time, less selection times, and multiple points of dispersion and selection, so that the nickel ore can be recovered as soon as possible.